It all started with a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal.
In 1985, the world was introduced to five teenagers with very different backgrounds who found themselves spending nine hours on a Saturday in detention. The success of The Breakfast Club helped make stars out of the so-called Brat Pack — Anthony Michael Hall, Emilio Estevez, Ally Sheedy, Molly Ringwald and Judd Nelson — and critics consider the teen drama to be one of director John Hughes’ best.
The movie centers on Brian Johnson (Hall), Andrew Clark (Estevez), Allison Reynolds (Sheedy), Claire Standish (Ringwald) and John Bender (Nelson) as they gather in the library of the fictional Shermer High School to serve detention from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 24, 1984. Their tyrannical assistant principal, Richard Vernon (Paul Gleason), assigns each member of the group to write a 1,000-word essay describing “who you think you are.” He also instructs the students not to speak, leave their seats or sleep until they are released — all while regularly checking in on them.
Over the course of the 97-minute film, Brian, Andrew, Allison, Claire and John bicker, share their darkest secrets, smoke a little marijuana and ultimately become unlikely friends. In the end, they submit a single essay to the assistant principal, signed, “Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club.”
Keep scrolling to see what the cast of The Breakfast Club has been doing since the film’s release:
